--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There are, of course, a number of…" description: "\"There are, of course, a number of epistemological questions, some of which lie more in the province of the philosopher than they do the economist or th..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ae4/kenneth-e-boulding-3728_concerned_there-are-of-course-a-number-of-epistemo_2337934.png" --- # There are, of course, a number of epistemological… ![“There are, of course, a number of epistemological questions, some of which lie more in the province of the philosopher than they do the economist or the social scientist. The one with which I am particularly concerned here is that of the role of knowledge in social systems, both as a product of…” quote by Kenneth E. Boulding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ae4/kenneth-e-boulding-3728_concerned_there-are-of-course-a-number-of-epistemo_2337934.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ae4/kenneth-e-boulding-3728_concerned_there-are-of-course-a-number-of-epistemo_2337934.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ae4/kenneth-e-boulding-3728_concerned_there-are-of-course-a-number-of-epistemo_2337934.png) > “There are, of course, a number of epistemological questions, some of which lie more in the province of the philosopher than they do the economist or the social scientist. The one with which I am particularly concerned here is that of the role of knowledge in social systems, both as a product of the past and as a determinant of the future.” [Kenneth E. Boulding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-e-boulding/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Knowledge shapes societies both as a historical product and a future driver, raising key epistemological issues. **In simple terms:** Knowledge influences past and future social systems. Key Takeaway Study how knowledge impacts social structures. Themes knowledge society epistemology Mood analytical thoughtful Type academic philosophical When to use this quote - policy design - education reform - organizational learning - future forecasting Key Concepts systems theory economics philosophy Questions to Reflect On - How does knowledge shape your community? - What limits knowledge’s role in social change? A Different Perspective Knowledge can be biased, limiting its predictive power. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Concerned](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/concerned/) [Courses](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/courses/) [Economist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/economist/) [Epistemological](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/epistemological-674112/) [Epistemological Questions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/epistemological-questions-674111/) [Knowledge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knowledge/) [Knowledge Social](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knowledge-social-1437577/) [Lying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lying/) [Numbers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/numbers/) [Past](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/past/) [Philosopher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosopher/) [Philosopher Economist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosopher-economist-4920608/) [Philosophy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophy/) [Products](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/products/) [Provinces](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/provinces/) [Roles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/roles/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) [Scientist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/scientist/) [Social](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/social/) [Social systems](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/social-systems/) ## Related quotes > [In the history and literature courses I took, epistemological questions came to interest me most. What makes one explanation of the French Revolution better…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elliott-sober/in-the-history-and-literature-courses-i-took-epistemological/) [Elliott Sober](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elliott-sober/) > [“Ultimately there are only two important epistemological questions in philosophy: What is reality? What is man? And the answer can be collapsed into one:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-mijuskovic/ultimately-there-are-only-two-important-epistemological-questions-in/) [Ben Mijuskovic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-mijuskovic/) > [But Adam Smith was a philosopher as well as well as an economist, famous in his time as much for his Theory of Moral…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-ormerod/but-adam-smith-was-a-philosopher-as-well-as-well-as-an-economist/) [Paul Ormerod](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-ormerod/) > [“Knowledge is a social construct, a consensus among the members of a community of knowledgeable peers.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-a-bruffee/knowledge-is-a-social-construct-a-consensus-among-the-members-of-a/) [Kenneth A. Bruffee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-a-bruffee/) > [There is no hierarchy of elder knowledge in my social region of things. There are only people learning and sharing in a very complex…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/there-is-no-hierarchy-of-elder-knowledge-in-my-social-region-of/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [The great philosophers of the 17th and 18th centuries did not think that epistemological questions floated free of questions about how the mind works.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-kornblith/the-great-philosophers-of-the-17th-and-18th-centuries-did-not-think/) [Hilary Kornblith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-kornblith/) > [The thing that distinguishes social systems from physical or even biological systems is their incomparable (and embarrassing) richness in special cases. Generalizations in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-e-boulding/the-thing-that-distinguishes-social-systems-from-physical-or-even/) [Kenneth E. Boulding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-e-boulding/) > [The social system tends to be dominated by images... especially of the future, which act cybernetically, constantly guided by perceived divergences between the real…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-e-boulding/the-social-system-tends-to-be-dominated-by-images-especially-of-the/) [Kenneth E. Boulding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-e-boulding/) > [“The social sciences are obsessed by epistemological questioning in a way that no science, no real science is. You never have a chemistry class…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruno-latour/the-social-sciences-are-obsessed-by-epistemological-questioning-in-a/) [Bruno Latour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruno-latour/) > [“Epistemological insiderism” ... is the belief that identity qualifies or disqualifies one from writing with legitimacy and authority about a particular topic. ... Epistemological…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rogers-brubaker/epistemological-insiderism-is-the-belief-that-identity-qualifies-or/) [Rogers Brubaker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rogers-brubaker/) > [“From an epistemological perspective, a person is a uniform being who interprets the different parts of her conscious knowledge in a coherent fashion (or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ulrich-m-ller/from-an-epistemological-perspective-a-person-is-a-uniform-being-who/) [Ulrich Müller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ulrich-m-ller/) > [Pamela Smith and Benjamin Schmidt have gathered together a wide-ranging and provocative set of original essays that successfully demonstrate how contingent the process of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deborah-harkness/pamela-smith-and-benjamin-schmidt-have-gathered-together-a-wide/) [Deborah Harkness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deborah-harkness/) > [What we need to do, however, is figure out what our best available theories of the mind suggest about epistemological issues, while we recognise…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-kornblith/what-we-need-to-do-however-is-figure-out-what-our-best-available/) [Hilary Kornblith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-kornblith/) > [It is characteristic of the epistemological tradition to present us with partial scenarios and then to demand whole or categorical answers as it were.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/avrum-stroll/it-is-characteristic-of-the-epistemological-tradition-to-present-us/) [Avrum Stroll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/avrum-stroll/) > [You can't invent something you have no epistemological access to. In a way, it's all recombination.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elif-batuman/you-can-t-invent-something-you-have-no-epistemological-access-to-in-a/) [Elif Batuman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elif-batuman/) ## More by Kenneth E. Boulding > [ \[In science any model depends on a pre-chosen taxonomy\] a set of classifications into which we divide the enormous complexity of the real world...… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-e-boulding/in-science-any-model-depends-on-a-pre-chosen-taxonomy-a-set-of/) [Kenneth E. Boulding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-e-boulding/) > [If we saw tomorrow's newspaper today, tomorrow would never happen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-e-boulding/if-we-saw-tomorrow-s-newspaper-today-tomorrow-would-never-happen/) [Kenneth E. Boulding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-e-boulding/) > [It is clear that the building of models is not a purely mechanical process but requires skill of a high order - not merely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-e-boulding/it-is-clear-that-the-building-of-models-is-not-a-purely-mechanical/) [Kenneth E. Boulding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-e-boulding/) > [Even personal tastes are learned, in the matrix of a culture or a subculture in which we grow up, by very much the same…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-e-boulding/even-personal-tastes-are-learned-in-the-matrix-of-a-culture-or-a/) [Kenneth E. Boulding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-e-boulding/) > [In view of the importance of philanthropy in our society, it is surprising that so little attention has been given to it by economic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-e-boulding/in-view-of-the-importance-of-philanthropy-in-our-society-it-is/) [Kenneth E. Boulding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-e-boulding/) > [Humble, honest, ignorance is one of the finest flowers of the human spirit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-e-boulding/humble-honest-ignorance-is-one-of-the-finest-flowers-of-the-human/) [Kenneth E. Boulding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-e-boulding/) > [ \[The question for the behavioral disciplines is simply\] what is better, and how do we get there? ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-e-boulding/the-question-for-the-behavioral-disciplines-is-simply-what-is-better/) [Kenneth E. Boulding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-e-boulding/) > [ \[Even the mechanism can be endowed with an image. Thus\] the thermostat has an image of the outside world in the shape of information… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-e-boulding/even-the-mechanism-can-be-endowed-with-an-image-thus-the-thermostat/) [Kenneth E. Boulding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-e-boulding/) > [Economic problems have no sharp edges. They shade off imperceptibly into politics, sociology, and ethics. Indeed, it is hardly an exaggeration to say that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-e-boulding/economic-problems-have-no-sharp-edges-they-shade-off-imperceptibly/) [Kenneth E. Boulding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-e-boulding/) > [The world moves into the future as a result of decisions, not as a result of plans. Plans are significant only insofar as they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-e-boulding/the-world-moves-into-the-future-as-a-result-of-decisions-not-as-a/) [Kenneth E. Boulding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-e-boulding/) > [Mathematicians themselves set up standards of generality and elegance in their exposition which are a bar to understand.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-e-boulding/mathematicians-themselves-set-up-standards-of-generality-and-elegance/) [Kenneth E. Boulding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-e-boulding/) > [The concept of need is often looked upon rather unfavorably by economists, in contrast with the concept of demand. Both, however, have their own…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-e-boulding/the-concept-of-need-is-often-looked-upon-rather-unfavorably-by/) [Kenneth E. Boulding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-e-boulding/) > [Conventions of generality and mathematical elegance may be just as much barriers to the attainment and diffusion of knowledge as may contentment with particularity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-e-boulding/conventions-of-generality-and-mathematical-elegance-may-be-just-as/) [Kenneth E. Boulding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-e-boulding/) > [Nothing fails like success, because we do not learn anything from it. We only learn from failure, but we do not always learn the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-e-boulding/nothing-fails-like-success-because-we-do-not-learn-anything-from-it/) [Kenneth E. Boulding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-e-boulding/) > [At the opposite pole from the gift is tribute - that is, a grant made out of fear and under threat. A threat is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-e-boulding/at-the-opposite-pole-from-the-gift-is-tribute-that-is-a-grant-made/) [Kenneth E. Boulding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-e-boulding/) [Explore all 123 Kenneth E. Boulding quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-e-boulding/) ## More Concerned quotes > [I don't think there's a direct correlation between my sexuality and my skiing ability. But I think because I was so concerned about it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gus-kenworthy/i-don-t-think-there-s-a-direct-correlation-between-my-sexuality-and/) [Gus Kenworthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gus-kenworthy/) > [Right now we're concerned about budget. Right now we're concerned about the prospect of interest rate rise. We're concerned about government corruption, government handing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amity-shlaes/right-now-we-re-concerned-about-budget-right-now-we-re-concerned/) [Amity Shlaes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amity-shlaes/) > [As far as Im concerned, I didnt dream - ever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-sturgeon/as-far-as-im-concerned-i-didnt-dream-ever/) [Theodore Sturgeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-sturgeon/) > [I am not the avant-garde. I am the artist who comes after the advancing guard. I am more concerned with continuity of ideas and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathan-oliveira/i-am-not-the-avant-garde-i-am-the-artist-who-comes-after-the/) [Nathan Oliveira](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathan-oliveira/) > [What I was concerned about when I wrote the 'Downward Spiral' record was being a self-centred destructive force. The point was tearing down everything…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/trent-reznor/what-i-was-concerned-about-when-i-wrote-the-downward-spiral-record/) [Trent Reznor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/trent-reznor/) > [Listening is a very active awareness of the coming together of at least two lives. Listening, as far as I'm concerned, is certainly a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-rogers/listening-is-a-very-active-awareness-of-the-coming-together-of-at/) [Fred Rogers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-rogers/) > [I am no different from a lot of people. I am concerned for the future of my children and concerned for the future of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-barnes/i-am-no-different-from-a-lot-of-people-i-am-concerned-for-the-future/) [John Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-barnes/) > [As far as Japan is concerned, I want to help all of our allies, but we are losing billions and billions of dollars. We…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-trump/as-far-as-japan-is-concerned-i-want-to-help-all-of-our-allies-but-we/) [Donald Trump](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-trump/) > [The time has come when the whole world must be concerned about me. From now on, American Christianity must follow me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sun-myung-moon/the-time-has-come-when-the-whole-world-must-be-concerned-about-me/) [Sun Myung Moon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sun-myung-moon/) > [If you read 'Lord of the Rings' and dismiss it as a lie because it has orcs and elves, you're missing the whole point…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doug-tennapel/if-you-read-lord-of-the-rings-and-dismiss-it-as-a-lie-because-it-has/) [Doug TenNapel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doug-tennapel/) > [Ideal for the child and society in the best of times, Rudolf Steiner's brilliant process of education is critically needed and profoundly relevant now…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-chilton-pearce/ideal-for-the-child-and-society-in-the-best-of-times-rudolf-steiner-s/) [Joseph Chilton Pearce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-chilton-pearce/) > [I feel like I won the Lotto, as far as that show's concerned.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-gallagher/i-feel-like-i-won-the-lotto-as-far-as-that-show-s-concerned/) [Peter Gallagher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-gallagher/) > [I was strictly after hits when it came down to the Jackson 5. That's all I was concerned with.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deke-richards/i-was-strictly-after-hits-when-it-came-down-to-the-jackson-5-that-s/) [Deke Richards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deke-richards/) > [“Is something bothering you, Sam?” Nixon asked with a deep furrow between his concerned chocolate eyes. “You mean besides the dead body lying in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-t-dyllin/is-something-bothering-you-sam-nixon-asked-with-a-deep-furrow-between/) [D.T. Dyllin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-t-dyllin/) > [When I was in my teens I had a series of intensely religious experiences. They deepened my sense of God as the creator of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-linzey/when-i-was-in-my-teens-i-had-a-series-of-intensely-religious/) [Andrew Linzey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-linzey/) [Browse all 3,551 Concerned quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/concerned/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "There are, of course, a number of epistemological questions, some of which lie more in the province of the philosopher than they do the economist or the social scientist. The one with which I am particularly concerned here is that of the role of knowledge in social systems, both as a product of the past and as a determinant of the future.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Kenneth E. 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